CATCH-UP FRIDAY!

Reading Intervention
Pre-Reading

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr3X0DCXI-M (Greatest
Showman-A Million Dreams)
Pre-Reading

In the spirit of “A Million Dreams,” what steps can

you take today to turn your unique vision into a reality,

embracing the boundless potential of your ambitions?

Pre-Reading

How does “A Million Dream’ encourage you to envision a

future where your aspirations become the driving force for

your journey?
 Pre-Reading

What specific dreams and visions does “A Million Dreams’ evoke for yo
u, and how can you channel that inspiration into tangible actions to brin
g those dreams to life?
During Reading

My Father Goes to Court

by Carlos Bulosan
When I was four, I lived with my mother and brothers and sisters in a small town
in the island of Luzon. Father’s farm had been destroyed in 1918 by one of our
sudden Philippine floods, so several years afterward we all lived in the town,
though he preferred living in the country. We had a next –door neighbour, a very
rich man, whose sons and daughters seldom came out of the house. While we
boys and girls played and sang in the sun, his children stayed inside and kept the
windows closed. His house was so tall that his children could look in the
windows of our house and watch us as we played, or slept, or ate, when there was
any food in the house to eat.
• Now, this rich man’s servants were always frying and cooking something good, and the aroma of
the food was wafted down to us from the windows of the big house. We hung about and took all the
wonderful smell of the food into our beings. Sometimes in the morning, our whole family stood
outside the windows of the big house. We hung about and took all the wonderful smell of the food
into our beings. Sometimes, in the morning, our whole family stood outside the windows of the rich
man’s house and listened to the musical sizzling of thick strips of bacon or ham. I can remember
one afternoon when our neighbor’s servant’s roasted three chickens. The chickens were young and
tender and the fat that dripped into the burning coals gave off an enchanting odor. We watched the
servants turn the beautiful birds and inhaled the heavenly spirit that drifted out to us.
• Some days, the rich man appeared at a window and glowered down
at us. He looked at us one by one, as though he were condemning us.
We were all healthy because we went out in the sun every day and
bathed in the cool water of the river that flowed from the mountains
into the sea. Sometimes we wrestled with one another in the house
before we went out to play.
• We were always in the best of spirits and our laughter was contagious. Other neighbors
who passed by our house often stopped in our yard and joined us in our laughter.

• Laughter was our only wealth. Father was a laughing man. He would go in the living
room and stand in front of the tall mirror, stretching his mouth into grotesque shapes with
his fingers and making faces at himself, and then he would rush into the kitchen, roaring
with laughter.

•
• There was plenty to make us laugh. There was for instance, the day one of my
brothers came home and brought a small bundle under his arm., pretending that
he brought something to eat, maybe a leg of lamb or something as extravagant as
that to make our mouths water. He rushed to mother and threw the bundle into
her lap. We all stood around watching mother undo the complicated strings.
Suddenly a black cat leaped out of the bundle and ran wildly around the house.
Mother chased my brother and beat him with her little fist while the rest of us
bent double, choking with laughter.
 Another time, one of my sisters suddenly started screaming in the middle
of the night. Mother reached her first and tried to calm her. My sister cried
and groaned. When father lifted the lamp, my sister stared at us with shame
in her eyes.
“What is it?’ Mother asked. “I’m pregnant! “she cried. “Don’t be a fool!”
Father shouted. “You’re only a child!” Mother said. “I’m pregnant, I tell you!
“She cried.
Father knelt by my sister. He put his hand on her belly and rubbed it
gently. “How do you know you are pregnant?” He asked. “Feel it!” She cried.
 We put our hands on her belly. There was something moving inside. Father was
frightened. Mother was shocked.” Who’s the man?” She asked. Suddenly my sister opened
her blouse and a bullfrog jumped out. Mother fainted., father dropped the lamp, the oil spilled
on the floor, and my sister’s blanket caught fire. One of my brothers laughed so hard he
rolled on the floor. When the fire was extinguished, and mother was revived, we turned to
bed and tried to sleep but father kept on laughing so loud we could not sleep any more.
Mother got up again and lighted the lamp, we rolled up the mats on the floor and began
dancing about and laughing with all our mights. We made so much noise that all our
neighbors except the rich family came into the yard and joined us in loud, genuine laughter.
 It was like that for years. As time went on, the rich man’s children became thin and anemic,
while we grew even more robust and full of fire. Our faces were bright and rosy, but theirs were pale
and sad. The rich man started to cough at night, then he coughed day and night. His wife began
coughing too. Then the children started to cough one after the other.at night their coughing sounded
like barking of a herd of seals. We hung outside their windows and listened to them. We wondered
what had happened to them. We knew that they were not sick from lack of nourishing food because
they were still frying something delicious to eat.
One day, the rich man appeared at a window and stood there a long time. He looked at my
sisters, who had grown fat with laughing, then at my brothers whose arms and legs were like the
molave, which is the sturdiest tree in the Philippines. He banged down the window and ran through
the house, shutting all the windows.
 From that day on, the windows of our neighbor’s house
were closed. The children did not come outdoors anymore.
We would still hear the servants cooking in the kitchen ,and
no matter how tight the windows were shut, the aroma of the
food came to us in the wind and drifted gratuitously into our
house.
 One morning, a policeman from the presidencia came to our house with a sealed paper. The rich man had filed a
complaint against us. Father took me with him when he went to the town clerk and asked him what it was all about. He
told Father the man claimed that for years we had been stealing the spirit of his wealth and food.
When the day came for us to appear in court, Father brushed his old army uniform and borrowed a pair of shoes
from one of my brothers. We were the first to arrive. Father sat on a chair in the center of the courtroom. Mother occupied
a chair by the door. We children sat on a long bench by the wall. Father kept jumping up the chair and stabbing the air
with his arms, as though he were defending himself before an imaginary jury.
The rich man arrived. He had grown old and feeble; his face was scarred with deep lines. With him was his young
lawyer. Spectators came in and almost filled the chairs. The judge entered the room and sat on a high chair. We stood up
in a hurry and sat down again.
After the courtroom preliminaries, the judge looked at father.” Do you have a lawyer?” he asked.
“I don’t need a lawyer judge,” he said.
“Proceed,” said the judge.
 The rich man’s lawyer jumped and pointed his finger at Father. “Do
you or do you not agree that you have been stealing the spirit of the
complainant’s wealth and food?”

“I do not!” Father said.

 Do you or do you not agree that while the complainant’s

servants cooked and fried fat legs of lambs and fat chicken

breasts, you and your family hung outside your windows and

inhaled the heavenly spirit of the food?

“I agree.” Father said.

“How do you account for that?”

 Father got up paced around, scratching his head thoughtfully.
Then he said, “I would like to see the children of the complainant,
Judge.”
“Bring the children of the complainant.”
 They came shyly. The spectators covered their mouths with their
hands. They were so amazed to see the children so thin and pale.
The children walked silently to a bench and sat down without looking
up. They stared at the floor and moved their hands uneasily. Father
could not say anything at first. He just stood by his chair ad looked at
them. Finally he said, “I should like to cross examine the
complainant.”
“Proceed.”
“Do you claim that we stole the spirit of your wealth and
became a laughing family while yours became morose and
sad.” Father asked. “Yes.”
“Then we are going to pay you right now,” Father said. He walked
over to where we children were sitting on the bench and took my
straw hat off my lap and began filling it up with centavo pieces that
he took out of his pockets. He went to Mother, who added a fistful
of silver coins. My brothers threw in their small change
“ May I walk to the room across the hall and stay there for a
minutes, Judge?” Father asked.
“As you wish.”
“Thank you, “Father said. He strode into the other room with
the hat in his hands. It was almost full of coins. The doors of
both rooms were wide open.
“Are you ready?” Father called.
“Proceed. “The judge said.
 The sweet tinkle of coins carried beautifully into the room. The
spectators turned their faces toward the sound with wonder. Father came
back and stood before the complainant.

“Did you hear it? “He asked.

“Hear what? “The man asked.
The spirit of the money when I shook this hat?” He asked.
“Yes.”
“Then, you are paid.” Father said.
The rich man opened his mouth to speak and fell to the floor without a sound. The lawyer
rushed to his aid. The judge pounded his gravel. “Case dismissed.” He said.
Father strutted around the courtroom. The judge even came down to his high chair to
shake hands with him. “By the way,” he whispered. “I had an uncle who died laughing.
“You like to hear my family laugh, judge?” Father asked.
“Why not?”
“Did you hear that children?” Father said.
“My sister started it. The rest of us followed them and soon the spectators were laughing
with us, holding their bellies and bending over the chairs. And the laughter of the judge
was the loudest of al
Questions:

1. What is the story all about?

2. Looking at the whole picture of the story, what general or central message does it exemplify?

3. What event/s in the story has a great impact on you? Why?

4. How do the event/s help/s you understand the story?

5. What realities in life does the story “My Father Goes to Court” convey? How did these ideas
used to contribute to the whole meaning of the story?

6. How do literary techniques contribute to the theme of the story?

 Post-reading
1. What is the story all about?
2. Looking at the whole picture of the story, what general or central message does it exemplify?

3. What event/s in the story has a great impact on you? Why?

4. How do the event/s help/s you understand the story?

5. What realities in life does the story “My Father Goes to Court” convey? How did these ideas used
to contribute to the whole meaning of the story?

6. How do literary techniques contribute to the theme of the story?